The idea that self-representations give rise to consciousness exists in neurophilosopy and it is closely related to the representational theory of consciousness and the higher-order monitoring theory:

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consciousness-representat...

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consciousness-higher/

https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/self-representational-approac...

http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/philo/courses/consciousness05/L...